I'll stick with rivers and lakes in Alabama. It is so laid back, you don't even spill your beer when the waves rock the boat.
Just kidding. Fishing should be relaxing, IMO
Fishing on Lake Erie can be beyond belief. I have seen years when it takes longer to run out to a spot than it does to limit out once you get there. Erie is stacked with walleye and yellow perch. Both are fine table fare and more than worth the effort.
You just have to be careful. The Great Lakes are more like oceans than lakes. They are big. They can "bite" you on the butt if you are not careful. I have a friend, a former charter captain on Erie, who was struck by lightning out there. It entered, if I remember correctly, in the right shoulder and exited out his left foot. The strike broke his pelvis and messed up his hearts electrical system, he spent 9 months in the hospital.
A couple of "tidbits" on Erie:
"The shallowest section of Lake Erie is the western basin where depths average only 25 to 30 feet (7.6 to 9.1 m); as a result, "the slightest breeze can kick up lively waves," according to a New York Times reporter in 2004.[SUP][16][/SUP] The "waves build very quickly", according to other accounts.[SUP][17][/SUP][SUP][18][/SUP]Sometimes fierce waves springing up unexpectedly have led to dramatic rescues; in one instance, a Cleveland resident trying to measure the dock near his house became trapped but was rescued by a fire department diver from Avon Lake, Ohio:
In a tug of war against the waves, the two were finally hauled out by rope. After being trapped for an hour-and-a-half, Baker was back on dry land, exhausted and battered but alive."
Then we have to deal with "seiches", which take place mainly in Nov. I have seen seiches "move" 6' feet of water in less than an hour. What I mean by move, it take it away. Water that was 6' deep, goes away and leaves the Lake bottom exposed. The water will stay away as long as the winds blow. When it returns, it can come back faster than it left.
"Short-term level changes are often caused by seiches that are particularly high when southwesterly winds blow across the length of the lake during storms. These cause water to pile up at the eastern end of the lake. Storm-driven seiches can cause damage onshore. During one storm in November 2003, the water level at Buffalo rose by 7 feet (2.1 m) with waves of 10–15 feet (3–4.5 m) for a rise of 22 feet (6.7 m).[SUP][25][/SUP] Meanwhile, at the western end of the lake, Toledo experienced a similar drop in water level. "
Lake Erie - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
